Capabilities of blenders

[Seren]

Hey all,

How powerful are your blenders when it comes to blending just dates, nuts and cacao powder, with a bit of water?

I tried it in my 'updated newgena' :rolleyes: (Which is what Im scepticising over right now) and it really didn't like it... it just wouldn't blend properly! It was better than my magic bullet which would conk out after about a minute of on/ off blending but yeah...

so can you please describe the way in which your blenders react to this mixture?? Do they do it with ease? Especially anyone with a newgena, I would love some feedback on how yours works :) Thanks a bunch!!

xxx

[Essensual]

I chop the nuts first and then remove them. I have to be careful however with the dehydrated fruit in the blender. I usually pulse those until they break up into manageable pieces. Then I add nuts & the other ingredients and pulse them all together. I think that pulsing is the key. I learned the hard way after I burned out the motor on my first blender back in 2005. I hope that helps.:)

[Seren]

Thanks :) Yeah that helps :D Maybe I should do that then... I was just worrying because I forked out £250 for this blender which was meant to be the NewGena but they sent me this other one which wasn't the NewGena but they said it was the updated version not out in the UK yet... but Im just thinking that maybe a NewGena or Vitamix would have handled dates and nuts fine with no problem??

Anyone with NewGena or Vitamix able to share?

TIA :D xxx

[gingincal]

I find that soaked dates blend MUCH easier than unsoaked.

[Revvell]

I'd put it in the food processor, not my blender. Too thick. Would need more than "just a bit" of water.

Revvell

[Andre]

This is just a recommendation for blending anything. I've not tried dates, because I don't choose to eat them. I have however blended many other things, and the results we get from blending greatly depend on how we do it.

My recommendations is to always use water. About 1 cup is fine. The reason for this is that when you blend without water the food that you're blending will oxidize (causing nutrient depletion) when the blade cuts into it. Water prevents this.

I use my BlendTec to blend avocado pits. It only takes less then 10 seconds. Anything more and you're actually overblending and causing unnessary oxidation. I then add the avocado pit mixture to the smoothie. It's so smooth that when I drink the smoothie and leave it on my tounge or press my tounge to the top of my mouth it melts away like sugar. That's fibre doing this.

And from my experience, blending a smoothie for more then 1 minute (usually 2 minutes) turns it into a pudding like texture - yuck. :(

Also, if you're blending, I've found this to be the most effective order to blend:


Top of blender

- Ice (full ice cubes are fine)
- Hard Vegetables; beets, radish, carrots
- Vegetables; kale, collards, celery
- Fruits/Soft veg
- Premixed seeds/pits/hardstuff
- Water (1 -2 cups)

Bottom of blender

Start at a slow speed and work your way up.

This order lets the soft stuff with the water build up and finally pull the hard items down. With my blender I've used this order and NEVER had to use a tamper or manually push food in. There are no chucks left in the smoothie. Just a smooth drink.

Also, no matter what blender you use, if you want the even/smooth/consistent results you have to cut down the size of what you're putting in. Otherwise that's just unnessary strain on the blender and blender blade, plus you spinning on other items in the blender too long causing heat and oxidation.

Quick and fast. Blenders that take 3 minutes are likely depleting the nutrients. Infact, I'd say that after 1 minutes the food (hard food) just get batted around anyways. If you go over a minute, something is likely not being done correctly or your blender is just not powerful enough.

This is just my perspective on it. I'm sure someone will tell me I'm wrong, and that there other blender is better... These blender wars are continous.

[Seren]

Thanks guys! It is reassuring to know that even vitamix's cannot take just nuts and dates - I was starting to worry!

Thanks for your long post andre, it halped a lot! In future I will put soft stuff first haha! I knew I must have been doing something wrong!

love Seren xxx

[baltochef]

In order to realize the results from a recipe so that it will turn out like you would like it to, it is first necessary to understand how a blender works..

Blenders are designed to create a vortex within a liquid medium..The vortex is that funnel shape created by the shape of the carafe's interior & the design of the blades..Without a vortex it is VERY difficult to get a blender to process foods..Without sufficient liquids it is VERY difficult to create a proper vortex..

The recipe that you quote in your post is NOT a proper recipe destined to work well in ANY blender..The more powerful that a blender is the more it is able to overcome bad technique & improper liquid-to-solids ratios in a recipe..

The general rule of thumb for a recipe that will allow a proper vortex to form & allow the blades to do their job would be at LEAST a 50-50 ratio of liquids to solids..Having 60-75% or greater liquids-to-solids ratio is even better..

The above recommendations fly in the face of many of the raw recipes that are printed in books, or posted on the web..I own 8 raw recipe books, & have read approximately 10 others..Of all of the recipes in these books that I have read, about 10-20% of them are poorly designed..By this I mean that the proportions are incorrect, & that by faithfully following the recipe there is a better than average chance that the cook will damage their food processor or blender..Perhaps not right away, but eventually the blender will bog down, or fail outright..This happens to even the most expensive blenders..Even a $3000.00, 5 horsepower blender designed for smoothie bars can be made to fail with these types of recipes..

It is a common misconception that even with a powerful blender, such as the Vita-Prep 3, all one has to do is throw the ingredients willy-nilly into the carafe, crank it on to High, & everything will turn out just like the recipe suggests..

The less powerful, & the more poorly designed a blender's carafe is, the worse it will perform at marginally designed recipes..

Bruce

[Snoozy]

I use my BlendTec to blend avocado pits. It only takes less then 10 seconds. Anything more and you're actually overblending and causing unnessary oxidation. I then add the avocado pit mixture to the smoothie. It's so smooth that when I drink the smoothie and leave it on my tounge or press my tounge to the top of my mouth it melts away like sugar. That's fibre doing this.


Andre, I knew that a Blendtec "could" grind up an avocado pit, but I didn't know that it was healthy and we "should" be grinding them up. I have a Blendtec also so I would be able to do this. What are the health benefits of avocado pits?

[Aleesha Sattva]

i just did a search on this cause i've never heard of eating an avocado pit. here's what i found:



Jeff: You also put the seeds in the blender right? Even the avocado seed!

Dr. Tom Wu: Yes I do!. When I eat the avocado I always eat the seed. It is packed with very good nutrients. It has the life force. It is a very high Qi food! It’s also the highest in soluble fiber. This soluble fiber binds to the fat and excess cholesterol. Then we can lower cholesterol and improve heart function naturally. We can improve the blood circulation by pulling out all the fatty deposits in our circulatory system with the soluble fiber of the avocado seed. Soluble fiber is very difficult to get in our diet. Oatmeal has some, but it cannot compare with the avocado seed. Any heart disease patient must eat the avocado including the seed.

from: http://www.aquarius-atlanta.com/feb06/youarewhatyoueat.htm

[Andre]

Thanks Recycling Goddess, I found an article as well:

Avocado Seed Link (http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:5IxrXKjPLWQJ:www.qigong.com/default.asp%3Fn1%3D5+avocado+pit+safe+to+eat+blend er&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4)

"Jeff explains how the Avacado Seed is "Tasteless" in a smoothie and has the LIFEFORCE of an entire tree!
The audience is in disbelief so he gives all 500 people in the room a sample of his favorite morning smoothie."

baltochef,

Awesome explaining about the vortex. I'm going to add more water next time.

[Mairzee_dotes]

Can the Vitamix deal with avocado pits too, or would that make it break down faster?

[Seren]

Thankyou everyone, got lots of information about lots of things from your few posts!

xxx